Vernay wins caution plagued Macau qualification race

Jean-Karl Vernay (Signature) was the slightly surprised - and possibly
surprising - winner of today's qualifying race at Macau. With an
unusually low rate of attrition, it seemed as though the message about
needing to survive this race in order to...

Jean-Karl Vernay (Signature) was the slightly surprised - and possibly
surprising - winner of today's qualifying race at Macau. With an
unusually low rate of attrition, it seemed as though the message about
needing to survive this race in order to make it to Sunday's Grand Prix
may have started to sink in. Pole man Marcus Ericsson (Tom's), who knows
all about this place, ended the 10-lap battle in 2nd, while Edoardo
Mortara (Signature) was 3rd, in a race that sadly finished behind the
Safety Car.

Podium: race winner Jean-Karl Vernay, Signature.

Photo by xpb.cc.

Despite the grid being settled by the end of Friday, there was a
small amount of reshuffling, with three drivers relegated to the back
of the grid after engine changes. That meant that Daniel Zampieri
(Prema Powerteam), Alexandre Imperatori (KCMG by Kolles & Heinz Union)
and Carlos Huertas (Manor Motorsport) would be 27th, 28th and 29th
respectively, with Kevin Chen (Champ Motorsport/Raikkonen Robertson
Racing) barred from taking part by the officials, who had clearly come
to the entirely correct decision that he presented a danger to himself
and everyone else out on the track. Given his performances in British
F3 this season, as well as the fact that the Taiwanese managed to crash
out of every session so far this weekend, this is the best decision they
could take.

Anyway, the race finally got underway with Ericsson on pole, and
everything looked set for a terrific battle between the best of the
current drop of F3 drivers. Vernay made a superb start and got the
drop on Ericsson to snatch the lead from the slightly surprised Swede.
Ericsson fought back and they were side by side at Lisboa, Ericsson
pushing Vernay down to 2nd, while Jules Bianchi (ART) came close to
ending Mortara's chances when he ran over the Italian's rear wheel and
damaged his own nose in the process. Meanwhile there was a loose wheel
rolling round on its own after Jake Rosenzweig (Fortec Motorsport)
was caught out in the mid pack mayhem that saw a general reshuffle of
the order. The young American ended up in the Mandarin Bend barriers,
doing enough damage to require a safety car period. Additionally, Henry
Arundel (Carlin) picked up some debris that punctured his radiator,
a problem that meant a pit stop was desperately needed. Meanwhile
Ericsson led the pack round, waiting for the race to go live again and
desperately trying to keep his tyres warm in order to capitalise on the
lead he now held.

Marcus Ericsson, Tom'.

Photo by xpb.cc.

The order at the end of the first somewhat fraught lap, then, was
Ericsson, from Vernay, Mortara, Valtteri Bottas (ART) the Finn losing
out to Mortara on the first lap, Daniel Ricciardo (Carlin), Laurens
Vanthoor (Signature), Sam Bird (the ART driver gaining a place after
Bianchi's little collision), Stefano Coletti (Prema Powerteam), Mika
Maki (Hitech Racing) and Brendon Hartley (the Carlin driver gaining
a lot of ground in the melee). 11th was Takuto Iguchi (Tom's), from
Roberto Merhi (Manor Motorsport) and Wayne Boyd, the Hitech Racing
driver rocketing up five places while everyone went mad around him.

Taking advantage of the Safety Car, Bianchi dived into the pits in
search of a new nose at the end of the first lap, while Arundel had no
choice but to pit as the engine temperature soared. Both cars were very
soon being worked on frantically though Arundel looked like he'd be
there for some time. Bianchi, on the other hand, was ready to go before
the pack arrived for their next controlled lap. It didn't quite work out
as he'd hoped when the Frenchman stalled in the pits and had to wait
for the team to restart the engine for him. However, he made it back on
track without losing a lap.

On lap four the race went live again, Ericsson drops back to try and
take full advantage but Vernay went for it after holding off Mortara.
He saw his opportunity and slipstreamed past Ericsson to nab the lead.
Ricciardo, always quick to catch on, had a go at Bottas but he couldn't
quite make it stick and ran wide, allowing the Finn to hold on to
4th, as well as allowing Vanthoor through for 5th while he gathered
everything together. Meanwhile Colleti's less than stellar weekend
continued unabated as he spun out of 8th place, presumably a victim of
cold tyres after Hartley ran into him. Hartley had been pushing hard,
setting the first of the fastest laps of the race, the Kiwi always fast
on street circuits but he was suffering for his mistakes in qualifying
and came round last.

Jean-Karl Vernay, Signature.

Photo by xpb.cc.

Ericsson was now pushing hard with three laps to go and was closing up
on Vernay, leaving Mortara behind for now. 4th was still Bottas, from
Vanthoor, Ricciardo, Iguchi, Maki and Merhi, the last two scrapping
fiercely as they completed the top ten. It was a sign of the pace
being set (as well as the cooler than usual condition) that the lap
record was not so much broken as smashed to pieces now, and it was
further demolished by first Mortara with a 2.10:977, and then reduced
to rubble by Vernay as he tried his best to escape from the threat of
Ericsson (2.10:906). Luckily for him, Ericsson now has his hands full
with Mortara, while further back what would turn out to be the decisive
incident of the race occurred. Boyd, who had been fighting to get into
the top ten, joining the battling Maki and Merhi. As Maki lost out to
the Spaniard, Boyd went wide and ended up in the wall at the exit from
Mandarin. The yellow flags were hung out promptly, as they always are
by the incredibly efficient marshals here, and that put an end to any
overtaking anyone might have had planned. It didn't stop Mortara going
through on Ericsson for 2nd, but the Italian had enough sense to hand
the place straight back once he realised what he'd done. With two laps
of the race left, the Safety Car was out again, as the wreckage was
removed. A lap later and the Safety Car was still leading them round. As
this was the last lap, the race was effectively over.

In a slightly absurd twist, the Safety Car pulled off at the end of the
last lap, leaving the field to run to the finish line on their own.
Given that the rules do not permit overtaking until the start/finish
line is crossed, it seemed a bit pointless. Perhaps they just didn't
want to waste fuel...

Anyway, the order at the finish was Vernay, from Ericsson, Mortara,
Bottas, Vanthoor, Ricciardo, Bird, Iguchi, Merhi and Maki. 11th was van
der Zande, from Kunimoto, Sims, Garcia, Chilton, Cozzolino, Dusseldorp,
Saga, Huertas and Zampieri. 21st - despite his pit stop - was Bianchi,
from Coletti, Imperatori, Hartley, McKenzie and Ho. With the addition of
Boyd, Arundel and Rosenzweig, that is now the order they will start the
Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. Expect a lot more mayhem in that race!